Hmmm...I find the pouch tuna is vastly better than any canned! It's really no more expensive, either. Look at the drained weight- at least where I shop, a pouch of tuna is roughly twice the price of a can, but the drained weight is twice as much, too. The canned crap is mostly water, I've found. The pouch stuff tastes much more like real tuna, IMOHO. The canned stuff is more like, well, cat food!

I usually buy Chicken of the Sea, as it's a tiny bit cheaper, but the Starkist stuff is good, too. I've got a couple pouches in my cupboard right now!

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If we're not supposed to eat animals, then how come they're made out of meat?

Andy M, I did mention it above, maybe you just skipped over it. I like BB brand but the only place I can find it is Saveway or Albertsons and I never shop at either one. I occasionally get it tuna from Trader Joe's, their brand.

Another place that carries Bumble Bee tuna is Walgreens! Yep, the "drugstore". Well, at least here in the DFW area where I live. The 6-oz chunk in water cans are on sale this week for 2/$1 (limit 4). Tom Thumb grocery store has their brand tuna on sale (without a limit) 2/$1 also. Humm ... I'll have to check on Save-A-Lot and see which brand(s) they carry and what they are selling it for.

Now, just to keep it apples-to-apples for comparison ... the Starkist tuna pouches are 3-oz ($0.50/oz) or 7-oz ($0.28/oz), and the 6-oz can is about $0.22/oz (Albertson's prices as of today).

Now the idea that, "... It's really no more expensive, either. Look at the drained weight- at least where I shop, a pouch of tuna is roughly twice the price of a can, but the drained weight is twice as much, too. The canned crap is mostly water, I've found. ...", seems to be a bit flawed. Here's why:

If the pouch is about twice the price of a can ... it's probably a 3-oz pouch. For the drained weight of a 3-oz pouch to be twice the drained weight of a 6-oz can ... the can would have to be 4.5-oz (75%) water or oil, leaving only 1.5-oz (25%) tuna. If that were true ... the ingredients on the can would have to list the water or oil first ... and the tuna second - by law. I've never drained, pressed and strained a can of tuna and wound up with only a 1/4 can of tuna - or equal to about 3 Tablespoons.

For an added giggle ... 6-oz cans of tuna at 2/$1 = $0.08/oz.

Preference for the taste and texture might be more of a valid argument in favor of the pouch ... but then taste is subjective.

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"It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain

We can count on you to lay out the facts in an easy-to-understand fashion.

To pick up on your price comparison, a 6-ounce can of tuna contains "about" two and a half 2-ounce servings. That's "about" 5 ounces of tuna in a can plus one ounce of liquid to make the 6 ounces. Thus, at $0.50 a can that works out to "about" $0.10 an ounce.

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"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." -Carl Sagan

Reading the idea that a drained "pouch" of tuna would weigh twice as much as a "can" of drained tuna set some bells off in the back of my feeble old brain - especially based on the idea that a pouch cost twice as much as a can .. that could only mean one thing ... a 3-oz pouch vs a 6-oz can at regular premium prices. Time to head to the store, and the kitchen to check this out - and seperate fact from myth. (Yes, I've been watching way too much Alton Brown.)

The first problem was to seperate the "extranious" (added) liquid. Obviously my first choice to seperate liquid and solid matter would have been a centrifuge ... I don't own one .. and it would have also been overkill - it would have extracted more than just the added liquid. Second choice ... a salad spinned ... don't have one of those, either. So - it's up to mother nature and gravity.

For this experiment I went with tuna packed in water since the water would drain better than oil since it is less viscous - and I was going to have to work with gravity only to seperate the excess moisture from the solids.

(1) I weighed 3 cans each of Bumble Bee, Alberton's brand, and Starkist tuna were weighed. In all cases, 3 cans of any given brand weighed 21-oz (7-oz each).

(2) A strainer was placed in bowl and a can of each brand of tuna was opened, dumped into the strainer, spread out a bit with a fork, and the can was inverted over the top of the tuna to allow any residule moisture to drain out. This was covered with Saran Wrap (to cut down on my 'fridge smelling like tune and to reduce evaporation) and placed in the refridgerator for 24 hours.

(3) At the end of 24-hours ... the cans, tuna, and drained liquid we weighed .. the liquid was also measured in the graduated cylinder.

RESULTS:

(1) An unopened 6-oz can of tuna weighs 7-oz. The cans weigh 1-oz.

(2) Among the 3 brands I tested ... Bumble Bee had the most water (45ml - 3 Tablespoons). Albertson's brand had slightly over 2-T (38ml), and Starkist was right at 2-Tablespoons (32ml).

SUMMARY:

(1) The idea that a 3-oz pouch of tuna, when drained, contains twice the amount of a 6-oz drained can of tuna .. well, it doesn't hold water. A 6-oz can of tuna will yield about 4.5-5 -oz tuna (depending on brand).

(2) I didn't test "pouch" tuna ... I'm sure that they would contain "some" excess water .. but didn't want to pay the $1.39-$1.79 per pouch to find out the exact amounts.

CONCLUSION:

A 6-oz can of tuna that cost about 50-cents and yields about 4.5 oz tuna is probably a better buy than a 3-oz pouch that costs about $1.39!

CONCESSIONS:

There is a difference between taste and economy .. and utility. If you like the flavor of the pouch better .. than by all means, buy what you prefer. To me, the way I use tuna most often (mixed with mayo, hard boiled eggs, onions, garlic, apple, lettuce, chopped pecans for a sandwich -or- mixed with pasta, cheese and peas for a casserole) , it would be wasted money to buy the pouch because I probably wouldn't taste the difference.

Anyway ... that's the observations from this "curious cook's" kitchen on this subject.

And - I still prefer tuna in oil over water

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"It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." - Mark Twain

Are you a Food Scientist by trade? If not your very knowledgeable about food. And, it sounds like you love finding out the scientic backgrounds of food. I bet you watch Alton Brown, and like his show? Hahaha. I find your postings very interesting to read and i learn so much from them. Thanks Michael. I know a Food Scientist, and hes very good too. Very interesting.
Luv, i like Save-a-Lots Tuna also, but Bumble Bee is still my favorite. In water only! Dont need the extra calories!

I have tried both the pouch and the can and by far I like Bumble Bee canned. For tuna salad or to add to salad, that is. Now, the only time I buy the pouch is to eat at work when I bring a salad for lunch. I think the texture of the pouch tuna is mealy.

BUT there is absolutley NO COMPARISON with that stuff and Italian oil-packed tuna (usually in jars but also in cans). That stuff will knock your sox off and should not be adulterated by mayo and pickles, etc.

I give you high marks for thoroughness, Micheal! But I don't have those products here. At any rate, the weight of the can isn't included on the label, and the brands I buy all list the drained weight. Again, where I shop the prices are pretty much identical per drained once.

Canned tuna tastes like the can it came in, IMO. There's virtually nothing I can think of that I like from a can if there's another other option. But that's just me.

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If we're not supposed to eat animals, then how come they're made out of meat?